Gov. Susana Martinez announced Wednesday that tactical air services company Air USA will relocate its headquarters from Quincy, Ill., to Albuquerque.

The company, which does military combat training with foreign-made fighter planes, is expected to employ up to 200 in the Duke City.

“Air USA is the kind of company that complements New Mexico’s existing workforce and infrastructure,” Martinez said.

Air USA, launched in 1994, operates a squadron of high-performance jet aircraft. The company has imported 56 foreign-made jet fighter aircraft, including Soviet-made Mig-29 fighters, the German Alpha Jet and the Czech Super Albatross. It has training contracts with the US Marines and US Navy, as well as research and development contracts with Raytheon Co., Boeing Co. and others. It also conducts flight test support at White Sands Missile Range and trains instructors for the National Test Pilot School.

The company primarily hires veterans who would have served in similar roles for the U.S. military. It hasn’t chosen an Albuquerque headquarters site yet, but officials hope to do so by Jan. 1.

“We are pleased to make New Mexico the new home of Air USA,” said Don Kirlin, AIR USA founder and president. “New Mexico has a significant veteran population and a local, skilled workforce in Albuquerque that understands fighter aircraft operations, and we believe that our proximity to local training ranges and flight test ranges will help us support our customer base and lead to further growth for our company.”

Air USA will be seeking accountants, contracts experts and proposal writers. Over the next three years, the company will also hire pilots, crew chiefs, weapons loaders and more.

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